Splintered Bonds
by Bloxanoid
Summary: After a fated encounter with a gravely injured Rockruff on his walk home, fifth grader Blake Sakura decides to take it in and become the first Pokémon trainer on Earth (that he was aware of). Unfortunately, training the feisty pup becomes more difficult than he anticipated, in more ways than one...
1. Rainy Day

**A/N: Hey guys, it's Blox, back with another new story (yeesh). But yeah, I had an idea…and…I just had to try and put it into words.**

 **If you came here from PKMD: DTB, then hello again! If you're wondering why I'm starting this instead of updating PKMD, it's kinda complicated. I can tell you I'm not (for once) in a writer's block for that story, I just haven't had the time to do it.**

 **Oh well…enjoy the story I suppose!**

 **EDIT: Lé mom issue has been fixed (I think). If it's still there (capitalized Moms where they shouldn't be)...let me know.**

* * *

 _*pitter patter pitter patter*  
*snore*_

"Hey Blake…"

 _*snoooore*_

"Blake…Ms. Haley is calling on you."

 _*snooor-*_

"BLAKE SAKURA! WAKE UP!"

"Uwwaaa?!" Blake jolted up from his desk and slammed his head into the wall with a huge thud. He reeled back and laid on the desk, holding his head in agony while the other kids hooped and hollered.

"Urk…did I fall asleep again?" He turned his head to look at his table buddy, Evelyn, who stared back down at him with her bright blue eyes. Her face was twisted into a disappointed scowl, like the one his mom made whenever he forgot to do the dishes.

"C'mon Blake, we're going to lose points again. Hmph!" She crossed her arms dramatically and looked away, her brown hair flopping around her shoulders. Blake adjusted his black jacket and smiled before sitting back up. She was kinda cute when she acted mad.

Blake froze when he heard the footsteps of the teacher behind his desk. After what felt like an eternity, he slowly turned to look up at Ms. Haley, his fifth grade teacher.

"Blake, this is the fourth time you've fallen asleep in class."

Blake sarcastically put up his right hand and counted slowly with his fingers.

"Erm…I'm pretty sure this is the fifth time." Snickers spread throughout the classroom, causing Ms. Haley to sigh and rub her forehead with her right hand.

"You really need more sleep Blake. I know you're ahead in the homework, but that doesn't give you an excuse to snooze in class."

"Sorry Ms. Haley, it won't happen again." Blake gave her a cheesy smile and tilted his head. She rolled her eyes and went back up to the front of the class.

Blake suddenly felt a punch in his arm from across the table. Of course, he knew who it was instantly.

"Nice going Sakura, now we're on Ms. Haley's bad side today," laughed Julian, his best friend since kindergarten. They both laughed silently as Ms. Haley continued on the math lesson Blake had already learned. Math came easy to Blake.

"Julian, you're being a bad influence on Blake," said Evelyn, almost out of nowhere. She wasn't even looking at the two boys, focused on taking notes over the lesson.

"What? Naaaaah it can't be. Why are you so worried Evelyn? Is it 'cause you like him?" Julian laughed as Evelyn turned away, blushing.

"N-no…shut up."

Julian turned back to Blake, who was daydreaming again about some far-off world nobody else could comprehend.

"But seriously Blake, at this rate we're going to get recess taken away, and trust me, I'm using my recess time the best I can. We'll be out of elementary school in only a couple months, and there's no recess time in middle school."

"Sounds dreadful," droned Blake, only half-focused on the conversation with Julian.

"Yeah, I know right? I won't be able to run around outside for an hour anymore!"

"I don't know how we'll get by."

"Shut up guys!" whispered Evelyn. "You're distracting me."

"'You're distracting me, weh weh!'" mocked Julian, imitating Evelyn's voice before pulling out his notes and a pencil.

Blake, meanwhile, was staring blankly at the Smartboard that Ms. Haley was drawing on. All day Blake had felt distracted, his mind elsewhere while his teacher and his friends went about. Normally math excited him, but it seemed that not even this subject could snap him out of the daze.

His eyes darted towards the clock; 3:20. Only twenty more minutes before school got out.

 _*shhhhhhrrrrrrr*_

Blake groaned in despair and dropped his head onto his forearm. The sprinkling of rain only an hour earlier had picked up into a downpour, and his mom wasn't able to pick him up from school today. He would have to walk home. At least school was less than five minutes away from his house.

"Okay class, that's it for today! You can have the rest of your Friday off." Ms. Haley's voice seemed to come from almost miles away.

" _ **Yaaaaay!"**_

Blake perked his head up when he heard the rustling of chairs and zippers as kids packed their bags in preparation to leave school. He smiled softly when he saw this sight; this was his favorite part of the day.

Blake flicked out his 3DS XL and booted up Pokémon Ultra Sun. This was by far one of his most favorite games on the handheld console, and he'd made quite a bit of progress on what was now his third run through of the game, despite what Julian said.

" _Nah, you can't beat the game in three days,"_ he said. _"I'll pay you five bucks if you do,"_ he said. Julian was about to be short five bucks on Monday.

 _ ***RIIIIING***_

Of course, before he knew it, the dismissal bell had gone off and school was out. Why couldn't he make time pass faster during class?

"Hey Blake, see ya tomorrow!" shouted Evelyn, waving and winking at Blake as she skipped out the door.

"Wait, why tomorrow? Tomorrow's Saturday!" Blake exclaimed. Evelyn put her arms behind her back and winked.

"We have the art project to finish, remember?"

"Ugh, that's right!" Blake facepalmed himself. He and Evelyn were working on a graduation collage for art class that was due next Wednesday. Of course he had forgotten.

"It's at my house, right?" asked Blake.

"Yup! See ya there at ten!"

"See ya Evelyn." Blake waved goodbye as she skipped out the door with the rest of the kids. Julian, however, stayed behind with Blake, who hadn't moved from his chair.

"Hey Blake, you sure you don't need a ride home?"

Blake nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks though Julian."

Julian slung his backpack over his right shoulder and saluted Blake.

"Am I dismissed General Sakura?"

"At ease, Private Ramirez."

"Haha, catchya Monday."

"Yeah…"

Julian sprinted out of the room, leaving Blake and Ms. Haley the only ones still in the classroom. Blake slowly stood himself up, slid on his raincoat and cap, and put his backpack on his shoulders.

"Be safe out there Blake," he heard Ms. Haley remark from behind. "It's pretty wet out there."

"I will Ms. Haley. See you Monday."

Blake trudged his way out into the gray and blue hallway, the clamoring and excited voices of elementary school students filling the empty space with joy. Blake sighed, realizing that within the next month he would be leaving this building and life forever, moving on to the nightmare that was called middle school. Unless he became an elementary school teacher of course. Not the course path Blake was looking to take.

Blake shoved his way past a few fifth graders in another one of the classes, but one of them grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hey Sakura, where do you think you're going?" The fifth grader pushed him back, causing Blake to take a few steps to steady himself.

"Home, Greg. Where else would I be going?"

"The trash can. Isn't that where you live anyways?" Greg and his group of boys snickered. Greg was the bully of the group, but since he acted like an angel in class, nobody could pin him down for trouble.

"Yeah it is, I take great pride in how I organize my stench." Blake gave the group a dramatic bow, hand wave and all. "Now if you excuse me, I must go to organize my landfill."

"Smell ya later loser. Ehehehe."

Blake laughed to himself a bit when he turned left out of the hallway. Those bullies may be good at taking down other kids, but Blake had learned to become a master of redirection and patience. Being one of the youngest kids in the grade, Blake had his fair share of bullies in the past few years. Luckily, it also taught him how to counter the jests and pokes of the bullies with his own funny language. It gained him _some_ respect with those kinds of people.

By the time Blake had reached the front of the school, most of the kids had left, either biking, walking, or being driven by their parents. Only Blake, the administrators, and a few stragglers remained. The sheer loudness of the pouring rain overwhelmed Blake's ears as he flipped up his coat hood and walked out into the downpour.

 _*SHRRRRRRRRR*_

The rain battered Blake's head and body as he jogged briskly away from the school, the sky dark and the only source of illumination coming from the street lights, cars, and the one ray of sunlight that had managed to squeak through the dark clouds that covered his town.

 _ ***CRRRAAAAACK!***_

The thunder momentarily startled Blake, him nearly losing his footing on a slippery puddle as he crossed the street. He held his hood closer to his face as the rain poured with increasing ferocity.

 _ ***SHRRRRRRRRRR* *WWOOOOOOSH***_

Blake sprinted down the sidewalks of his neighborhood as the wind began to pick up, the combination trying to push and throw him off his feet and into the soaking grass beside him. He shook his head, refocused, and moved on.

 _ ***CRAAAAAAAAAAASH!***_

Lightning filled his eyes as a bolt of electricity crashed into a lightning rod of a house a few blocked down. The large crack made him slip and land on his back, resulting in him reeling in pain.

"Graagh…not again…" He slowly stood himself up as he regathered his dropped belongings and put them in his backpack.

 _rrrrrrr…._

As Blake finished putting his pencil case away, he heard a soft humming coming from something near him, the noise barely audible over the lashing of the rain and wind. He stood still, the rain pummeling his face, as he listened again for the noise.

… _.rrrrrrr…._

Sure enough, there it was again. His ears weren't fooling him this time, or if they were, they did a pretty damn good job.

His eyes drifted from his left to his right, surveying the ground for any odd objects or movements. It was a bit hard to see in the dark with the rain blocking his view, but he had to make do with what he got.

… _..rrufff…._

The noise a bit louder this time; Blake must be closer than before. He began peering evermore sharply, keeping his eyes open for anything besides, grass, cement, dirt, or his foot.

… _.rrrr…..rrruf…._

Blake's eyes came to rest on an unusually large lump of ground. The noise was the loudest here; whatever this thing is, it must be it. He carefully walked up in front of the mass and kneeled down, listening once more.

"…Rufff…" emanated the mass. Sounded like a dog; how unfortunate that it's owners left it outside in the pouring rain.

Blake quickly looked up and darted his eyes up and down the street. Nobody around this part of the neighborhood had a dog this small; it might be a stray. He tried to search for any cars or people looking for the dog, but nobody came to help. It was up to him down.

"Shhhh…it's okay. I'll help you."

"…Rufff?" The mass shuffled a bit as Blake slowly picked it up. The dog was wrapped in a small blanket, by far not enough protection from the pouring rain. He searched around the ground for anything that might tell him of the dog's owners, but all he found was a baseball. He stuffed it in his right pocket.

"…rrrrr…" The dog's growls were getting weaker. Was it hurt?

Blake carefully took out his 3DS XL, making sure not to expose it to the rain. He turned on the screen to provide some light, and saw most of the dog he was holding was covered in the blanket. The light brown fur he did see was scratched and bloody. This dog had gotten into serious trouble.

Luckily for Blake, his mom was a veterinarian (ironically his mom wouldn't let Blake have any pets), and he knew she would know what to do.

"…arooo…"

"Don't worry, I'll get you to safety boy."

No response.

"Girl?"

"…rrr…"

So this dog was a girl. Okay.

"Okay girl, not much farther. We'll reach my house soon."

Blake cradled the injured dog in his left arm as he stuffed his 3DS away with his right. He pulled his hood down and began to sprint down the sidewalk.

 _*splish splash splish splash*_

Blake could feel the dog shivering in his arms, it's soft whimpers growing weaker by the minute. He didn't have much time.

"Just hold on, okay? Almost there."

Blake slid to a stop at the street he lived on. He carefully crossed the road before sprinting again up the slight incline of the hill.

"…rrr…."

"C'mon, not much longer!" Blake kept running; his house was just up there. His legs were on fire and his lungs gasped for air, but he didn't stop.

"…aroo…"

Blake stumbled and heaved for air as he typed the code into the garage opener. As the door slid open, he could see in the corner of his eye that his mom was home; good timing.

"Okay girl, we're here," he whispered to the dog. The bundle shifted weakly.

Blake limped up the stairs and opened the garage door, the alarm giving a loud beep as he did. He quickly kicked his shoes off and put his jacket onto the hangar.

"Blake, you're home already?" he heard his mom exclaim from the kitchen. "Doesn't it normally take you longer to-."

"I need your help Mom," he interrupted, picking up the bundle from the ground. It growled a bit in response, but didn't offer much of a fight.

"Blake, what is it?"

Blake ran into the kitchen, holding the dog in his arms. His mom was making dinner; spaghetti and meatballs. Delicious.

"Mom, I found this dog in the pouring rain. I couldn't find it's owners anywhere."

Blake's Mom nonchalantly took the spaghetti off the burner and put the pot on the granite countertop.

"Blake, what did I tell you about pets-." His mom froze when he saw the bloodied fur and scratches covering the part of the dog she could see.

"Oh my…give me…"

"It's a she Mom…I think." He carefully handed the bundle to his mom, who rushed down the hallway towards her office, where she always kept a spare set of equipment in case something like this happened. That's what she gets for being a veterinarian and having an office identical to an animal surgery room.

"Blake, I might need your help. Come quickly."

Blake instinctively turned off the stove (no more fires) before rushing to assist his mom. She had already put some gloves and a mask on before Blake had gotten there. She quickly tossed him a set, and Blake slid the mask and gloves over his face and hands. He'd assisted his mom before in the past, but only once…and that didn't end well.

"Let's see what we're dealing with here…oh my goodness. I've never seen this before."

"Seen what Mom?" Blake inquired.

"This breed of dog…"

"C'mon Mom, you're a veterinarian, and a canine surgeon as well. You know _all_ the dog species, even the mixes." His mom tended to pull his leg a lot, and Blake had learned to catch on to these jokes and pranks.

"Seriously Blake, where did you get this dog?"

"On the side of the road…why?"

"No clues?"

"Only this…" Blake took the baseball out of his pocket. Except it wasn't a baseball.

"A toy Pokéball?" laughed his mom. "You haven't been bringing your Pokémon toys to school again, have you? I thought you got over that cycle."

"I did Mom! I found this by the dog!" He put the Pokéball back in his pocket. He will look at it in his room tonight, after dinner.

"Well…if you won't believe me…take a look yourself."

Blake slid past his mom and looked at the table. His eyes widened when he saw the sight.

"Im…possible…what…" He clutched his head in shock. Lying on that table…was a Rockruff.

"Blake, you know what breed this is?" his mom inquired. Blake weakly shrugged.

"Technically?" Blake blinked a couple times and rubbed his eyes. Was his mind deceiving him? The Rockruff's body was covered in bloody scratches and bite marks, it's fur tinted red. The blanket, which was now lying to it's side, was also covered in blood.

Pokémon didn't exist in this world, but this was clearly a Pokémon.

"Well…this is quite serious Blake. You go eat dinner. I'll be working on her for awhile." Blake quietly left his mom's office before throwing off the mask and gloves and running into the wall, breathing heavily. A Pokémon…no, it couldn't be. This is a dream.

He began to fiercely pinch himself and slap himself in the face. It was all real. _Too_ real.

Blake carefully led himself to the giant pot of spaghetti and meatballs, and he served himself a giant portion of the noodles. He turned the light on at the dining table, sat down, and began to dig in.

While biting into a giant meatball, Blake again pulled the Pokéball from his pocket. He turned it in his right hand as he inspected the ball. Seemed like a regular old toy on the outside.

Blake clicked the button and the ball flipped open. The inside was lined with metal supports, unlike the toy Pokéballs they sold at Walmart. There was an odd device installed into the joint; no technology he had seen matched it, or even resembled it.

Blake spotted a piece of paper inside the Pokéball and gingerly removed it from it's home. He carefully unfolded the paper and inspected its contents. It read instructions for things he had never seen in his life, recipes using ingredients he had never heard before, and unusual writings in a language he didn't understand. Cliché mysterious letters.

The unusually canonic Pokéball, coupled with the Rockruff…now it had to be true. That _was_ a Pokémon he just saved, even though Pokémon are fictional.

Blake put the paper into his jacket pocket and snapped the ball shut as he finished up his spaghetti. He cleared, cleaned, and put away his dishes in the dishwasher before proceeding to go upstairs, leaving his mom in the office.

After taking a shower, Blake threw himself onto the bed, his head spinning. Pokémon are _real_?! How long has this been going on? Why do they exist? Who hurt her? There were too many questions to comprehend, too many unknowns. He couldn't wrap his mind around the possibility that he may (or may not be) the first Pokémon Trainer ever.

" _No, no. Don't think about that. I'm just helping a dog and that's it. It will probably leave by the morning,"_ one part of his mind said.

" _C'mon, this is a one chance opportunity. If it comes up, and I can take care of it, I'm going to do it!"_ a second part exclaimed.

" _I don't even know how to take care of Pokémon."_

" _Neither does anyone else, and I know if the dog is released she'll just get hurt again."_

" _And so what? There's so many things I don't know that I'll probably just mess up and she'll get hurt, and it will be because of_ _ **me**_ _."_

" _I've spent so much time studying Pokémon, playing Pokémon, dreaming about Pokémon…besides whoever she came from or whoever she was made by I'm probably one of the best qualified people to take care of a Pokémon in a non-Pokémon world."_

"…"

" _Ha, can't counter that, huh?"_

"… _shut up."_

With two parts of himself feuding inside his brain, Blake couldn't fall asleep. No matter how hard he tried, his focus kept drifting back to the Rockruff. Would his mom even be able to save her? Blake closed his eyes and thought of nothing. Just nothing. _Just nothing…_

* * *

Blake's eyes opened when he heard shuffling downstairs, his mom likely finished up with the operation. He quickly checked the clock to his right and saw that it was now 1:30 in the morning; she had been working on Rockruff for several hours and three hours of sleep had flown by with, quite literally, the blink of an eye.

Blake swung himself out of the bed and forced his legs to walk out the room, even though they were sore from the extreme sprinting he had done. Clutching the wall as he walked, he shambled out his bedroom door and carefully navigated down the stairs to the kitchen. His mom, completely exhausted, was finally eating some of the spaghetti. She looked up at him, dreary, before eating the spaghetti. Not a good sign; normally she yells at him and tells him to go back to bed.

"Mom…"

She held up a hand and shook her head.

"Not now Blake. You should be in bed." She sighed and returned to the spaghetti.

"Did it…go alright?"

His mom put the fork on the plate and stumbled over to Blake, who stood in his pajamas at the bottom of the stairs. She kneeled down and gave him a huge hug, tears welling in Blake's eyes.

"M-Mom?"

"She's alright. She lost a lot of blood and it took awhile to bandage up all the cuts and lacerations, but she'll make it through. It'll take some time for her to heal."

Blake perked up a bit at that remark.

"And that means…"

"You can take care of her during that time."

"THANKS MO-."

"But I can't guarantee anything after, okay Blake?"

"That's fine Mom!"

"She's resting in the office right now."

Blake dashed past his mom and ran straight to the office, sliding into the wall as he overshot the door.

"Careful Blake, she's fragile right now."

Blake grabbed his knee in pain then forced himself up, his muscles on fire.

"Ugh, that sprinting really did a number on me." He carefully stood up, again, and quietly snuck into the office.

Sleeping on the now clean blanket was the Rockruff, it's body slowly billowing up and down as it slept. Bandages covered a lot of it's body, some of the bandages tinged pink from a bit of excess blood loss and continuous bleeding. While it was nowhere close to 100%, it certainly was an improvement from earlier in the day.

Blake carefully walked up to the Rockruff and starting petting its fur. It's eyes suddenly opened and it turned to look at him.

"Rockruff?" The Rockruff tilted her head inquisitively.

"Shhhh…just sleep. You need to rest."

"Ruff, rockruff!" The Rockruff wagged her tail gently.

"I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"R…Rufff…" The Rockruff mumbled something in Rockruff language before falling back asleep.

Blake slowly walked back to the kitchen and looked at his mother.

"She seems pretty calm Mom. I'm surprised."

His mom looked at Blake with a confused expression.

"Really? She was alert earlier, wouldn't settle down."

Blake shrugged it off. It didn't completely matter to him; tomorrow he would make his first steps as the world's first Pokémon trainer (that he knew of)! The problem was…where to start?

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter of the story!**

 **If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to PM me or leave a review. If you liked what you read, feel free to follow or like the story for more on this story.**

 **Of course, I don't own Pokémon :P**

 **See ya guys next time!**

 **-Blox**


	2. Art

"Roff roff!"

"Ugh…just a few more minutes Mom…"

"Roff ruffrockruff!"

Blake felt something nudging into his torso from his left side.

"C'mon…it's the week…end…"

 _*snooooooooore*_

"ROFF!"

The nudging proceeded to change from soft taps to extremely painful punches to his back. His body suddenly convulsed and his eyes sprung open.

"OUCH! What the-"

Blake quickly rubbed his eyes and saw that Rockruff was standing on top of him, jumping on his back. Her eyes darted around everywhere, excitedly.

"Really, you had to wake me up? It's so early-"

Actually, it was already 9:30. So much for that excuse.

Wait a second…

"Huh?! How did you get up here?!"

"Ruff rockruff!" Her body was still heavily bandaged, but that didn't seem to slow her down too much. Still, it's not like the Pokémon knew the place by heart…

"Actually, that's because of me." The familiar voice echoed from around the corner.

"Rrrruff!" Rockruff wagged her tail and ran around Blake's bed. His eyes slowly drifted until a blurred blob of _something_ entered his vision.

"Wha? Who are you?" Blake wiped his face with his forearm and squinted at the figure.

"It's me, silly! Didn't you say we would be working on the project today?"

Project, what project? Blake racked his brain trying to find the answer, but he was so sleep-deprived nothing seemed to pop up.

Oh, that's right! Evelyn was supposed to come over at ten o'clock to work on the graduation collage! She normally arrived early, so it wasn't too surprising if she showed up a half-hour early-

" _Hold up."_

Blake's vision finally cleared and the image of one of his best friends came into view. He jumped back, startled.

"A-AAH! Evelyn?! What a-are you doing in my r-room?!" He quickly wrapped his bedsheets around his body, causing Rockruff to roll around as the sheets slid out from beneath her.

Evelyn winked and smiled, twirling her hair in the process.

"Your mom said you were still sleeping. She seemed too busy to go wake you up, so I did it for her."

Blake's eyebrows dropped as his expression of shock morphed into a frown. Evelyn walked over to Rockruff and picked up the puppy, who started licking her face nonstop.

"Haha! I didn't know you had a dog! I thought your mom said no pets!"

Blake sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Well…I'm not allowed to. I found this pup on the side of the road walking home yesterday with no owners or anything really. Not in the best condition either."

"Aww, that sucks."

"Roffrock!"

Rockruff panted and gave a little smile, Evelyn tilting her head a bit in confusion.

"That's odd…I've never heard a dog bark _that_ before…"

Sweat began to accumulate on Blake's forehead as he quickly thought up a distraction.

"W-Well…are you sure? I sure have."

Technically not a lie, if you count playing Pokémon or watching the Pokémon anime.

"Hm…you're more of a dog expert than I am, so I'll have to take your word on this one."

" _Phew."_

Evelyn put Rockruff back on Blake's bed before swinging her arm with enthusiasm, almost knocking Blake out.

"Geez, watch where you-."

"C'mon lazypants! We don't have any time to lose! We're already behind schedule and _this_ is not helping!"

"Fine…can you leave at least?" It was kind of awkward having a girl, especially a girl he knew _well_ , just standing in his room when he was sleeping. He didn't know a situation where _anyone_ wouldn't feel the same way.

"Ugh, okay. But if you take too long I'm coming right back."

"Square deal, Evelyn."

Evelyn skipped out of Blake's room, leaving him and Rockruff behind. The door clicked shut as Blake looked at the Pokémon.

"My god…my legs are killing me. What about you?"

"Ruff! Ruffrockruff!" She laid down on the bed and looked up at Blake, her tail wagging.

"Yeah, me too." Blake swung his legs out from the bed, letting them hang off the side. He winced in pain and groaned as his legs dropped and hit the side of the mattress frame. His legs weren't this sore since they ran the mile in third grade, and that was _nothing_ compared to this. Alas, the importance of stretching truly made sense to him now.

"Ugh, I don't know how I can walk." He glanced towards Rockruff.

"I don't know how you can walk."

"Ruufff rockruff rockruff!" Rockruff wagged her tail some more. Seemed like Rockruff had no idea either.

"Welp, better move before Evelyn busts in again, huh?"

"Ruff!"

The instant Blake put weight on his right leg his knee collapsed, sending him sprawling to the floor. His head hit the ground, temporarily putting spots into his eyes.

"Ugh…ow."

"Ruffrockruff!" Rockruff edged closer to the side of the bed, but was afraid to jump off the side. It's not like Rockruff was in any condition to be moving around in the first place.

"It's okay…I got it…hmph!" Blake slowly forced himself onto his two feet, his quads, hamstrings, and glutes alike all on fire. He wobbled a bit at the top, but in the end he was able to balance himself.

"Ruff ruff!"

"Thanks girl." Blake limped over to Rockruff, picked her up, and put her on the ground. She instantly started trotting around his room, sniffing various objects on the floor.

"Yeah, you go enjoy yourself while I get ready."

Blake quickly snatched his baseball bat, which was leaning against his bookshelf, and started using it as a support as he stumbled towards his dresser. He slowly took out shorts and a t-shirt, changed into the shirt, then plopped down on his bed to change into shorts.

"Ruff! Ruffrockruff!"

Blake looked down to see Rockruff with a tennis ball in front of her. She continued to stare at him, wagging her tail.

"Hm? Where did you get that?"

"Ruff roff!"

He glimpsed towards the back left corner, where he kept his tennis stuff from his one-month stint as a prospective green ball man.

"Oh…I haven't touched that stuff in ages."

"Ruffruff!" She nudged the ball closer to Blake.

"Hm, you wanna play?"

"Ruff!"

Blake bent down and picked up the ball, tossing it towards the other side of the room. Rockruff instantly took off, chasing the ball as fast as she could. Blake chuckled to himself as he watched Rockruff search endlessly for it.

Blake grabbed one of the few baseballs on the ground next to him and put as much pressure as he could onto his legs, rolling the ball up and down the muscle. It hurt like hell, but it was necessary if he wanted to walk within the next few days. He started on his left leg, and after rolling out all the muscles on his left, he did the same with his right.

"Blake! You're taking too long! I'm coming in!"

Blake sighed; no stopping Evelyn.

"Ok, come in."

Blake looked over his left shoulder as the door flew open, Evelyn looking all over. She sighed a bit when she saw that Blake was dressed and somewhat ready to work.

"Phew, at least you're out of your pajamas."

"Wow, _thanks Mom,"_ mocked Blake. Evelyn's expression suddenly twitched a bit.

"Blake, that's not very nice."

"Hey, you're basically acting like my mom right now."

"Pssh! If it weren't for me Blake, you wouldn't have woken up on half the weekends I came over!"

Good god, she was right. Blake remembered the last few years of elementary school, specifically last year during fourth grade. She had to come over and get him up for all the group projects at least twice a month, and at it's worse twice a day. Binge watching the anime was not good for his health.

Rockruff continued to look around the room, searching for the tennis ball, when she spotted Evelyn holding it in her hand.

"Blake, I thought you said you gave up tennis."

"I did."

"Roffrock!" Rockruff was staring at the tennis ball from the other side of the room.

"Heehee, do you want this?"

"RUFF RUFF!" Rockruff's tail went ballistic. Blake didn't know if it was possible for _any_ live thing to move that fast, even a Pokémon.

"Fetch!" Evelyn tossed the ball towards Rockruff, who leaped up and caught it.

"Ruff!" Unfortunately, her legs weren't completely healed, and they collapsed when Rockruff landed.

"RAFF!" Rockruff winced as she licked her legs a bit, trying to fix the pain.

"Oh no! I'm sorry!" Evelyn quickly ran over and picked up Rockruff, who smiled a bit and blinked a couple times.

"Roffrock! Ruff rock rock ruff!"

"Awwww! So cuuuute!"

Evelyn toyed a bit with Rockruff, her attention completely diverted from Blake.

" _Nice. She won't be nagging me for a bit now."_

Blake slowly snuck around the two as he and his newly rolled-out legs tip-toed to his bathroom to brush his teeth.

"What's your name?"

"Rockruff!"

"Rockruff?" replied Evelyn.

"Rockruff!" Rockruff winked and stuck her tongue out."

"AAWWWWWWW!"

Blake spit his toothpaste spit into the sink and rinsed his mouth out before returning back to his room.

"K, I'm ready Evelyn."

Her head snapped towards Blake, her eyes showing her annoyance with his work ethic.

"Took you long enough Sakura." She quickly returned to looking at Rockruff.

"Now you, little one, there's so much I want to know!"

"Roffrock!"

"Hm, what's that?" Evelyn whispered, giggling to herself.

Evelyn slipped past a shocked Blake as she left his room and went downstairs to the office. Blake, trying to be environmentally friendly, turned off the lights and rushed downstairs, where he saw his mom typing on her laptop at the kitchen table. Her eyes glanced up briefly before returning to her work.

"Oh Blake, you're finally awake. Did Evelyn wake you up again?"

"Nah, she got the dog to do it instead."

"Blake, that dog is in no condition to be moving around."

Blake shrugged.

"Just make sure that dog doesn't reinjure itself, Blake. You don't want to hinder it's recovery."

"I know Mom, I know."

"BLAKE, HURRY UP!"  
"RUFFROCKRUFF!"

"Okay, geez!" Blake rolled his eyes and his mom laughed to herself a bit.

"What's so funny Mom?" pouted Blake. "Can't you see I'm being bullied here?"

"Your dad and I used to talk like that when we were kids. It's funny to see you two interacting like that."

Blake thought about that for a bit. He hadn't seen his dad in quite awhile; he was across the country for his own job, which Blake was unsure of. He had left three years ago, but he came home every once in awhile for holidays or Blake's birthday.

"What are you getting at Mom?"

"Oh Blake, I think you know." His mom winked at him from behind the computer. Was she hinting that…

Blake's face turned bright red and he shook his head.

"M-MoM! It's not like that-"

"It's just how I think about it Blake."

"Shut up."

"Hey, don't tell your mother to shut up."

Blake sighed.

"Sorry."

"Much better. Now go."

Blake stomped his way out of the kitchen and over to the office, where Evelyn was setting up a bunch of art supplies, including pens, construction paper, and scissors. Rockruff was resting on the ground on a dog bed his mom had set up. At least Pokémon seemed to be potty trained and didn't need to go to the bathroom that often. The blanket that Rockruff had come with was laid by the dog itself, and Blake had made sure to pick up the Pokéball on the way out of his room.

"Hey Blake, what was that all about?" asked Evelyn, busy looking at all the art supplies.

"Ah, it was nothing. Just my mom nagging me about schoolwork again."

Evelyn giggled a little bit before returning to work.

"Okay, if you insist…"

"What, you think it was something else?"

"No, you just seem so defensive about it."

"Whatever."

Blake kneeled down and pet the resting Rockruff before picking up the mysterious blanket that wrapped Rockruff last night. It was…unusually lumpy.

"Hm, Blake, what's that?"

Blake turned and saw that Evelyn was no longer focused on organizing the art supplies, but rather his own actions.

"Oh this? This is the blanket I found Rockruff in last night."

"Huh."

Blake kneaded the blanket in his hands, looking for anything odd.

"Oh, what's this?"

Blake found an unusual dip in the blanket, and he stuck his finger into the opening. The blanket morphed into a small bag, the inside seeming to be stuffed with items.

"Woah! Blake, how did you do that?"

"Dunno, but let's see what's inside."

Evelyn and Blake both sat down on the floor as Blake turned the bag upside down, spilling its contents onto the floor. Inside were five Pokéballs, a few berries sealed inside a Ziploc bag, and a few bottles of who knows what.

"Blake, what is this-."

"Oh my god, I know exactly what these are."

Blake pulled out the Pokéball from his pocket and clicked open the latch and pulled out the piece of paper. When he started reading the instructions and the recipes, it all started to make sense.

"These berries, these Pokéballs…this ain't no coincidence."

"Blake, I don't…understand."

Blake suddenly froze in his spot. While he was busy geeking out about his Trainer prospects, he had forgotten Evelyn was in the room with him. Now she knew about Rockruff's secret.

"Umm…Evelyn…I need to tell you something."

She looked at him, intrigued.

"Sure, what is it?"

"And _nobody_ else can know."

"Nobody?"

"Nobody."

"Okay…what is it?"

Blake took a deep breath.

"The dog…is a Pokémon. Not from this world. I don't know how this happened, or why, but she ended up with me, and now I think it's my job to watch her."

Evelyn had a straight face for approximately one point two seconds before bursting into laughter.

"Oh Blake, that's hilarious. Man, you haven't told that good of a joke in a while."

Blake continued staring at her, and she suddenly stopped laughing.

"You…can't be serious."

He nodded his head grimly.

"Oh…then that poses several issues, like what about Pokémon food? There's none here. Pokémon centers? General knowledge? You know nothing, have nothing."

"Well, I like to look at it as just having nothing. I'm the best at Pokémon that I know. If there's anyone who's the closest to a Pokémon Professor in these parts, it's me."

"Blake, I don't know…we should tell your mom-."

"No, we can't!" Blake suddenly jumped out and tackled Evelyn, covering her mouth with his hands. He He didn't take his hand away until she shut up.

"You gotta trust me on this."

"B-B-Blake…w-what are you doing?" she suddenly stammered.

Blake recounted his surroundings. He had just tackled Evelyn, and was now basically right on top of her…her face was bright red. Maybe he had just done something terribly wrong.

"Um…sorry."

"…"

Blake stood up and offered his hand, which she took. He helped pulled her up to her feet, and they looked at each other silently. Rockruff, meanwhile, had somehow managed to find Blake's hidden popcorn stash and was now munching silently. Crazy dog.

"Let's just…forget that happened, okay?" Blake scratched the back of his head nervously. Evelyn started twirling her hair with her fingers and looked away.

"Yeah…sorry for being…you know…too reckless."

"It's okay Evelyn. I thought about telling my mom too, but I'm afraid she'll just make me put Rockruff back into the wild. I don't think she'll survive out there."

"Yeep, you're right about that." The atmosphere had returned to somewhat normal, but Rockruff continued to eat the popcorn.

"So…I told you because I can't do this alone. I know I can't. Well, I mean, I could try, but I don't think I would do that great on my own, hehe."

"You want me to help you take care of your dog?"

"Yeah, essentially."

Evelyn started jumping up and down excitedly.

"Aww yeah! This will be fun! I've only been with that dog for about thirty minutes, but I've enjoyed every second of it! Tee hee hee!"

"Woo hoo, that's the spirit. But seriously, we should get started on the art project now."

Evelyn shrugged.

"You're right. We'll talk more about this while we work." Evelyn returned to organizing the art supplies while Blake kneeled down in front of Rockruff, who now vigilantly guarded the popcorn.

"ROFF! Ruffrockruff!"

"C'mon girl, I need that later, especially with the lack of sleep!"

"Roff ruff!" Rockruff simply snuck the popcorn further under her.

"Ugh, fine, you win. You can have the popcorn."

"Ruff ruff ruffrockruff!" Rockruff returned to eating more popcorn.

Blake picked up the berries and the Pokéballs from the floor and put them back in the bag before helping Evelyn cut out pictures and write words on a giant poster board they were supposed to put their collage on.

"So Blake…what's your first step? I hope it's not going out and training your Rockruff to fight."

"Well-."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS BLAKE?! You've been a 'Trainer' for less than a single day and you want to use your newfound buddy in a battle?"

"Uh…yes?"

Evelyn suddenly spun around and smacked Blake in the face.

"OW! SERIOUSLY?!"

"Blake, look at her! She's in no shape to leave the house, let alone battle. You'll have to wait in terms of that." Evelyn shuffled through her bag and pulled out a couple pictures and handed them to Blake to glue onto the poster board.

"So, what do you think the first step should be?"

"You should help Rockruff heal up first. Get to know her. This isn't like the Pokémon games, where the Pokémon instantly trust you, you know."

Blake took a glimpse back towards Rockruff, who munched on more popcorn, rather relaxed.

"I dunno Evelyn, she seems pretty calm around me."

"Even then Blake, you have to bond. I read about it in a book about pets."

"Of course you did."

Evelyn threw some sparkles onto the poster board then drew a few decorations and squiggles in an attempt to make it look more flamboyant.

"I mean, you watch the Pokémon anime right? You weeb."

"Ha, that's nothing. There's a bunch of other anime out there that is completely different. Besides, how do you know what a 'weeb' is?"

"Greg told me. Or, more of I heard him call that kid who's into anime and manga in the back of the room that."

"Huh. The more you know I suppose."

"That's besides the point. I mean, in that show they have Pokémon food and all the stuff, but you don't have any."

"I know, we already talked about it five minutes ago."

"So? It's really important to be able to feed your Pokémon. You don't want to feed it unhealthy food; it won't recover."

"I suppose you're right."

"I could get my dad to make something."

Evelyn's dad ran a relatively famous restaurant downtown, serving as the head chef. It seemed like he could make anything except for bad food.

"Eh, I don't think that will work. Besides, I'm sure that the berries I got in the blanket bag will be pretty useful in the future. Do you mind planting some in your garden? I think we can get more berries from that."

"Sure, if you insist."

Evelyn did many more things than Blake could ever hope to accomplish in a lifetime. Blake was decent at baseball and video games, but that was about it, and Blake had injured his arm in game a couple months ago. He had functional use of it, but it was in no shape to go back to playing in a game. Evelyn was involved in several activities, including the school's horticulture management club. Apparently it had recently surfaced.

"Want me to come over after school every day to help you take care of Rockruff? I can ask my dad if it's okay; he doesn't come home after school until late and I'm basically by myself anyways until six. It'll be just like first grade."

"Sure, that will be great. I need all the help I can get."

Evelyn glued on the final picture and looked at it, smiling in triumph.

"Ah, it's perfect."

"Um…yeah, you're right."

The pure white poster board was now covered in various pictures of Evelyn and Blake throughout elementary school, participating in Halloween day, doing math, sports, and all sorts of other interesting things. Blake was pretty sure the other kids shipped them behind his back like his mom did, but he didn't really care. He was sure Evelyn didn't either, and it wasn't confirmed that other kids did that. It was only a rumor after all.

"We make a great team, huh?"

"Evelyn, you did most of the planning. I just helped put it together."

"Yeah, but you put your own spin on it too!"

"I suppose."

A moment of silence ensued. Except for the crunching of popcorn.

" _Geez, she really likes that popcorn like how Pikachu likes his ketchup."_

"Mind if I…stay after for a bit? Just to hang out with you and Rockruff a bit?"

"Oh yeah, as long as it's okay with my mom."

Blake poked his head out of the office.

"HEY MOM! WOULD IT BE OKAY IF EVELYN STAYED OVER FOR A BIT LONGER AFTER WE FINISH WORKING?"

"Sure Blake," she replied from the kitchen, "I'll just make sure her father is okay with that as well."

"Thanks Mom."

"Roff roff!"

"AWWWWWW IT'S SOOO CUUUTE!" Evelyn shouted from behind him.

"Oh jesus, what now?"

Blake turned around to see Evelyn playing with Rockruff, who managed to find the tennis ball. Again. Pokémon are pretty mysterious.

"C'mon Ev. Let's watch TV."

"Okay, whatever you say." Blake walked over to the living room and turned on the TV while Evelyn carried Rockruff over to the couch with him. Evelyn took a seat next to Blake as the news channel popped up.

" _ **BREAKING NEWS! REPORTS OF AN AGGRESSIVE AND POWERFUL ANIMAL IN THE AREA!"**_

"Oh my…"

"Ruffrockruff!"

" _ **Victims of these incidents report an unusually powerful animal attacking them whenever they are approached. Some even equate them to the power levels of Pokémon, also called Pocket Monsters, fictional creatures that can do anything from breath fire to bury enemies under rocks. Civilians are recommended to stay away from any creatures that seem aggressive and report any incidents to authorities. A large number of civilians have been injured, yet no deaths have been reported due to these incidents."**_

Evelyn turned to face Blake.

"You don't think that could be other Pokémon appearing, do you?"

"I don't think. I know."

" _ **Witnesses say that this creature seems to be small in stature with brown fur, some saying it looks similar to the Pokémon known as Eevee. While it may look non-threatening, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT approach it."**_

"Interesting…" Blake brought his hand up to his face in a thinking pose.

"Aw, an Eevee?! I've always wanted to own an Eevee in real life…"

"Roffrock!" Rockruff spun around in circles a couple times before settling down.

"And seeing that you believe that Rockruff truly is a Pokémon…maybe there's hope."

Blake was silent and didn't respond to Evelyn's statement.

"Blake…?"

A thought suddenly lashed through Blake's brain. He quickly stood up, nervous.

"Are you sure you _really_ want something like that?"

"Pretty sure…why?"

"Good, we're going out, now."

Evelyn quickly stood up to face him.

"Why? Where?"

" _ **This animal was last seen near Union and 123**_ _ **rd**_ _ **!"**_

"Union and 123rd," he replied. Evelyn's eyes widened when she realized what Blake was planning to do.

"You aren't going to go and…try and catch it, are you?"

"Evelyn…think about it. Rockruff was critically injured when I found her on the side of the road, and _nothing_ was on the news about it. This animal…which could be an Eevee or just a regular aggressive animal…is being pursued by authorities."

"So you're saying…if we go get it now before it gets hurt…we might have a better chance of saving it."

"You know me too well Evelyn."

"Well, it wasn't that hard to pick up, based off your behavior, the TV, and-"

"Enough of the chit-chat Ev. We've got places to go."

"What about Rockruff?" asked Evelyn, worried about the dog's health.

Blake kneeled down in front of Rockruff.

"Hey girl, I know we haven't known each other that long, but I may need your help. You may need to battle, and I know you aren't feeling too well, so I'll leave it up to you."

"RUFFROCKRUFF! RUFF RUFF!" Rockruff puffed out her chest and looked directly into Blake's eyes.

"Nice! That's what I'm talking about!" Blake took out the loose Pokéball and glanced at Evelyn.

"Welp…let's see if this works. Rockruff return!"

The ball opened up and a red light enveloped Rockruff, turning her body into light energy, which retracted into the Pokéball to be carried for safe keeping. The ball shrunk to the size of a golf ball, which he stuffed back into his pocket.

"Blake…I'm not feeling very good about this. You're acting kinda reckless."

"Bah, if I'm a Pokémon trainer and you're going to help me, that makes you a Pokémon Trainer in a way as well. And to be a Trainer…you need a Pokémon."

Evelyn pouted and put her hands on her hips.

"Blake, I never said I wanted to be a Trainer…"

"You should bond with a Pokémon just as well."

"Blake, nothing you're saying is making up for the fact that this is extremely dangerous!"

"Trainers are supposed to help their Pokémon…help all Pokémon however they can. Now is the time to act; if this animal is an Eevee, it's in an unfamiliar place, not necessarily one it can be safe in. We have to do something."

Evelyn sighed before looking back towards Blake.

"Ugh…you aren't going to give this up, are you?"

"Nope. By the way, you might need this." Blake took one of the five remaining Pokéballs out from the blanket bag and tossed it towards Evelyn, who bobbled it a couple times.

"Blake! You're trusting me with this?!"

Blake looked up momentarily.

"Of course. I can trust one of my best friends, right?"

She looked away nervously.

"Y-Yeah…you can." She looked back, braver than before.

"Yeah…you can count on me! Let's do it!"

"Hell yeah!"

Blake grabbed his phone from his desk in the office and slung the blanket bag over his shoulders. Luckily for him, his mom had her earbuds in, so she hadn't heard any of the conversation they had just had. Blake waved his hand in front of his mom's face to get her attention.

"Hey Mom, me and Evelyn are going to the park!"

His mom sighed.

"Okay…stay safe I guess. Call me if you need anything." His mom stuck her earbuds in and resumed humming to some eighties or nineties song Blake had never heard of in his life.

"Evelyn, you rode your bike here, right?"

"Blake, I ride my bike everywhere."

"Awesome. Now let's see if I can still ride a bike."

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to PM me or leave a review. If you liked what you read, feel free to follow or like the story for more on this story.**

 **Of course, I don't own Pokémon :P**

 **See ya guys next chapter!**

 **-Blox**


	3. I Choose You, Rockruff!

Blake and Evelyn pedaled as fast as they could on their bikes towards the intersection of Union Avenue and 123rd Street, which was located about ten minutes away on bike. Of course, Blake, having not biked at _all_ in the past three years, was a bit rusty, while Evelyn, who biked everyday to school, pedaled no sweat.

"Blake, you gotta keep up!"

"I'm t-trying! AH!" Blake kept swerving all over the sidewalk, frequently hitting bumps and cracks in the ground. Evelyn was way ahead of Blake.

"We're almost there Sakura!"

"How much m-more! AAAAH!" Blake suddenly came to a stop as he squeezed the brakes as hard as he could to stop himself from crashing into Evelyn. He remembered why he stopped riding his bike; he was horrible at it.

"Just one more block and a left!" The two waited at the red light as cars whizzed by, occasionally sending water droplets their way. The rain from last night was not evaporated yet, so there were still puddles and wet spots along the road.

The light flashed green and the two kids flew across the crosswalk and zipped up the shallow hill that laid in front of the intersection of 123rd and Tracer Road. As Blake looked to his left, he saw the skyscrapers and buildings of downtown on the horizon. He had only been once, and that was with his dad, who used to work downtown.

"Blake, left here!"

"Gotcha!" Blake squeezed the brakes once more, almost drifting around the corner. He felt like he was starting to get this biking thing down once and for all.

Blake was glancing around his surroundings when he saw that Evelyn had suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Unfortunately, Blake was still moving at full speed. He squeezed the brakes as hard as he could, and he squeaked to stop just before touching Evelyn's back wheel.

"Hey, what is it? Why did we stop?"

"Sakura, shhhh."

"What?" inquired Blake.

Evelyn dismounted her bike and slowly walked it over towards a black fence gate to the local park, which typically had families and college students from the community college hanging around during this time of year. Blake remembered the times when his mom and dad took him to the park during the summer, especially on bright and sunny days…however, right now the park was _super_ wet, and Blake knew that the park plus heavy rain equaled mud _everywhere_.

Evelyn leaned her bike against the fence and put her helmet on one of the handles; Blake did the same. Evelyn carefully tiptoed back towards where she stopped originally and got down on all fours, looking through the thick, steel fence.

"What, do you see something?" asked Blake, trying to peer through the bars.

"Look." Evelyn moved out of the way so Blake could get on the ground and look through the fence. Blake could see a momentary flash of brown and white through a hole in the bush.

"Jackpot. I think we've found it." Blake stood up and looked around.

"Looks like we beat the authorities to it as well. I don't see any police or animal control around."

Evelyn tossed the Pokéball Blake gave her in her right hand, winking at the same time.

"Well, we don't have any time to lose then, huh?"

"I guess not," laughed Blake. He reached into his pocket to pull out Rockruff's Pokéball.

"Okay Rockruff, come on out!" He clicked the button and threw the ball, the red light that originally enveloped his Pokémon materializing it in front of him. The ball returned to his hand, Rockruff sitting in front of him, bandages still covered around some parts of her body.

"Ruffrockruff!" Rockruff wagged her tail excitedly.

"Here, let me use this." Blake rummaged through the blanket bag and took out one of the purple bottles. He shook it a couple times and a nozzle appeared out of the top.

"Nice." He gently pressed a button and a purple vapor came out that smelled like grape juice. It was probably just him though.

"Sit still for a sec, okay?"

"Ruff ruff!"

Blake carefully unwrapped some of the bandages that his mom had used on Rockruff and sprayed some of the purple stuff onto the injuries. Sure enough, the damage and wounds began to disappear as the vapor took its effect on Rockruff, but it was still far from healthy. Evelyn stood on the side in awe.

"Blake…how did you know to use that?"

"I dunno. Purple bottle in a bag with Pokémon stuff in it, I _assumed_ it was a Potion. Thank god I was right; it could have been something else too."

Blake emptied the purple bottle and placed the empty container back into his blanket bag. Rockruff seemed happier as she continued to run in circles and chase her tail. However, Blake could still tell that she wasn't feeling the best and only time would be able to heal her completely.

"Beginners luck I guess." Blake recalled Rockruff and followed Evelyn into the park.

"Lead the way Pokémon Trainer!" mocked Evelyn, pretending to revel in Blake's ability.

"Haha, nice one. Now where did we see the motion…"

"Over there." Evelyn pointed to her left, towards a small hedge maze/a bunch of bushes and a tree.

"Oh, of course. Keep your eyes out-."

 _*WEEEEEEEEAAAARRRNNNNNNNNOOOOOOHHHHH*_

Blake heard police sirens coming from the distance, likely on call to investigate the animal matter. They had to move quickly to stay safe.

"Evelyn, let's move. We definitely don't have time to waste."

"Ha says you! You took _forever_ to get ready this morning."

"That was…under different circumstances."

"Excuses excuses!"

Blake and Evelyn split up to search the many bushes present by the giant tree that towered over the rest of the park. The sirens slowly grew louder by the second, Blake sweating evermore profusely as the time ran down. His eyes darted around, searching for motion, but he couldn't see anything.

"Okay Rockruff, I need you again!" Blake sent out Rockruff, who tilted her head, confused.

"Girl, I need you to search for another Pokémon that may be here. Let me know if you find one!"

"Ruffrockruff ruff!" Rockruff disappeared into one of the bushes. When Blake called out to Evelyn,it seemed like she had no luck either. Darn.

 _ ***WEEEEEEEEAAAARRRNNNNNNNNOOOOOOHHHHH***_

The sirens were now coming just from outside the park; the police were here.

"RUFF RUFF!" Rockruff's barking came from around another bush somewhere to Blake's left.

"Hey Evelyn, I think Rockruff found the Eevee!"

"Okay, I'll meet you over there!" she shouted from the other side of the tree.

Blake pushed his way through the shrubs and bushes until he found himself in a little opening between the bushes, Rockruff on one side and a frightened Eevee on the other.

"Ruffrockruff ruff ruff!"

"Nice one girl!" Blake dug in his pocket for a piece of popcorn and tossed it in the air. Rockruff caught it no problem.

"E-E-Eeeveeee…" The small Pokémon shivered on the other side, it's mind likely shaken and energy running low. Hopefully this could be solved without any other issues.

Blake nodded to Rockruff, who backed off a bit to allow Blake to advance.

"Shhhh…Eevee, it's okay…I'm not here to hurt you."

"E-Eevee?"

"My friend is here to help you. She'll be over here in a second." Almost on cue, Evelyn shoved her way through the bushes.

"Hey Blake, did you-." Her eyes widened. "Oh my god, you did."

"The things scared out of it's mind. Be gentle with the throw, would ya?"

"O-Okay…go Pokéball!" Evelyn underhand-tossed the Pokéball towards the Eevee, enveloping it in red light. The ball shook, once, twice, a third time…

"C'mon…" Blake clutched his fist as the ball clicked.

"NICE! We got that one done with no battling! And it's yours. Rockruff return!" Rockruff returned to it's Pokéball.

"We just have to return back to my house now, Evelyn. We got that done with surprising ease."

"What if we run into the authorities?"

"We'll deal with that when we get to it."

Blake and Evelyn shoved their way through the bushes and back out onto the path where…the police were searching the trails. Evelyn punched Blake in the arm as if to say "I told you so."

The duo tried to quietly exit the park, but one of the police officers spotted them and stopped them from leaving.

"Sorry kids, but you're here at a scene for a possible investigation. Have you happened to see any odd looking animals around?"

"No sir," replied Blake, putting up his best fake smile.

"Any odd noises."

"Nope," chirped Evelyn.

"Any…any…"

"Any what sir?" Blake's eyes drifted towards the police officer's gaze, which landed directly on his blanket bag.

"Oh this sir? This is just a bag I take my school stuff around in."

"Sorry kid, but we can't let you leave."

"Why?"

"We can't."

"Isn't that against the law-." Blake tried to slip by, but the police officer pushed him back towards Evelyn, who stopped him from falling over.

"I may be the only one here, but that doesn't mean this won't be hard. They're only kids after all."

Blake and Evelyn looked at each other as the police officer talked to himself nervously.

"Okay, let's do this! Go Patrat!" The police officer threw a Pokéball in Blake's direction.

"WHAT IN THE-" The ball released the Pokémon, it's eyes darting all over and it's two buckteeth chattering in place.

"If you two don't want to get hurt, then come quietly and it will all be over." The police officer adjusted his cap and gave the two a smirk. Something else was going on here that Blake didn't understand, but that didn't matter. There was one thing he knew he was good at; Pokémon battles.

"Sorry sir, but I'm afraid I have to go." Blake took out Rockruff's Pokéball and held it in his hand. However, Evelyn grabbed Blake by the shoulder and turned him to face her.

"Blake, you aren't thinking of _battling_ him, are you?!"

Blake's glance darted between Evelyn, the police officer, and Rockruff's Pokéball.

"I don't think I really have other options here, if getting home is still the plan."

"Blake! Rockruff isn't in _any_ shape to fight! And NO, if you're thinking I'm going to use a freshly caught Eevee to _fight_ , you've lost your mind, Blake Sakura!"

"Urk…"

The police officer suddenly pointed at Evelyn.

"Enough! Patrat use Bite!"

"Paaaatraaat!"

Patrat sprinted up to Evelyn's leg and sunk it's teeth into her left shin, making her flinch in pain.

"OW! What the hell?!" Evelyn shook her leg, throwing Patrat off. Unfortunately the bite had drawn blood, which she hurried to put pressure on with her hands.

Blake, now infuriated, turned towards the police officer.

"That was uncalled for!"

"Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to move up. So, I will say it again. If you don't want this to get out of control, I _strongly_ recommend you come with me."

Blake turned quickly back to Evelyn, who was sitting on the ground holding her bleeding shin.

"Hey…I-I'm fine…deal with him, okay? Urk…there are bandages in my pack but I can get them…"

"You sure Ev?"

"Absolutely," she groaned, weakly pulling out her Pokéball. Blake felt the ball in his hand shuffle slightly.

As he turned back to face Patrat and the police officer, multiple thoughts ran through his mind. Should he just go with the stranger? Maybe it would answer his questions and solve this mystery, but he highly doubted it would end well for any of them…

"OKAY THAT'S IT!" The police officer snapped and stuck his hand out.

"Patrat use Bite on that boy!"

Blake stood frozen as Patrat ran up and prepared to bite him. He tried to move, but all he could do was brace for the impact…

"RUFF RUFF!" The Pokéball shook violently and opened on it's own, sending out Rockruff, who tackled the running Patrat to the ground. She rolled over back onto all fours while Patrat was sent back towards the police officer.

"Grrrrrr…"

Blake slowly brought his arms down and opened his eyes to see his Pokémon protecting him from Patrat. She stumbled a couple times just standing there, but she was trying.

"Wha…why…"

"Ruffrockruff!" She turned around and winked at Blake before facing Patrat.

"You sure?"

"Ruff ruff!"

The police officer grit his teeth when he saw Blake's Rockruff.

"Ugh…you have a Pokémon…this may be tougher than I thought." The police officer quickly regained his composure and pointed at Blake.

"No matter! You're only a kid, with minimal training at best, using an injured Pokémon! You don't stand a chance!"

Blake darted his eyes once again back towards Evelyn, who was wrapping a bandage around the bite wound. She had used Eevee to get the bandages out of the bag while she continued to apply pressure and look out for more attacks; nice call.

He stared directly at the police officer.

"Try me."

"Ruff, ruffrockruff!"

 _ **You were challenged by Police Officer Braden!**_

Blake looked around him, confused.

"Where'd that voice come from?" he exclaimed.

"Voice? What voice?" Evelyn piped up from behind him, still bandaging her leg.

"Grrrrr…" Rockruff struggled a little to stay balanced, but it would have to do.

"Patrat use Tackle!"

" _Dammit, he has the first move."_

"Paaaatrat!" Patrat sprinted towards Rockruff, the puppy hopelessly stuck in the middle.

"Ruff…" She froze, not knowing what to do. Blake quickly shouted an order.

"Jump left!"

"Ruff?"

Patrat slammed into Rockruff, sending her flying backwards.

"Rooockruffff!" She slid to a stop, cringing from the pain.

"You okay girl?"

Rockruff quickly rolled back onto her feet.

"Rockroff!"

"Okay, use Rock Throw!"

Rockruff simply stared back at him, confused.

"Roff?"

"Wait, you don't know that move yet?!"

Officer Braden burst out laughing, coughing uncontrollably.

"OHHHH Man, I can't get enough of this."

"Shut up," shouted Blake.

"Since you technically just gave in order, it's my turn again! Use Bite!"

"Hey, no fair!"

"PAAAATRAT!" Patrat ran up to Rockruff to bite her in the torso, but Rockruff was ready this time. She rolled to the side just in time to dodge Patrat's fangs, but her legs momentarily crumbled under her weight.

"Nice dodge!"

"R-Ruff…"

"C'mon Blake and Rockruff, you can do it!" Evelyn shouted. Her entire shin was now wrapped in gauze bandages, but it didn't seem to be stopping the bleeding; it was tinted pink and growing darker by the minute.

"Eeveee!"

Blake turned to Rockruff.

"We can't give up! Let's try Tackle here!"

Rockruff slowly got onto her feet and started running towards Patrat, who bent it's knees in preparation for the attack. Officer Braden snapped his fingers.

"Jump over it!"

Patrat flipped over the sprinting Rockruff, but Blake was expecting that.

"Now Rockruff!"

"RockRUFF!" Rockruff dug her paws into the ground and flung dirt into the exposed Patrat's eyes, causing it reel back, slightly blind.

"Ugh! We've almost got them Patrat! Tackle once more!"

"P-Patrat?!" With the dirt in Patrat's eyes, Rockruff easily dodged Patrat's attack.

"Okay Rockruff! Now lets go with Bite!"

"Patrat, Detect!"

Rockruff lunged towards Patrat, but it stepped out of the way, at the same time wiping the dirt of it's eyes.

"Leer, Patrat!"

Patrat gave Rockruff an intense stare, causing her to freeze.

"R-R-Rock…"

"Okay Patrat! Finish this thing off with Tackle!"

Patrat rammed into Rockruff, launching her towards Blake. Patrat stepped back, holding one of it's arms with the other.

"Rockruufffff!"

"NO!" shouted Blake as Rockruff tumbled to the ground. For several seconds nobody on either side moved, and no words were spoken. Rockruff laid motionless.

"Rockruff?" whispered Blake.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rockruff forced herself onto her feet and stared down Patrat.

 _Rockruff toughed it out._

"R-r-rrrruffrockruff!" Rockruff let out a massive bark. Police Officer Braden took a few steps back, shocked.

"Im…possible…you haven't hit my Patrat with a damaging attack a _single_ time, but you're still up?!"

Blake blinked several times, stunned. This couldn't be possible, right? That kind of endure took a long time to develop in the game…

He shook his head and refocused.

"No, I ain't giving up! Not until the end!"

"Ruffrockruff!"

Patrat sneered at Rockruff while Officer Braden stared down Blake.

"Well, the end is now for you. One more Tackle should do it!"

Rockruff stumbled left and right as she struggled to keep her balance.

"Watch out Rockruff!"

"R-RUFF!" Rockruff tried to sidestep, but ended up wandering right into Patrat's path. Patrat, once again, slammed into Rockruff, sending her flying backward. No way she could endure that _twice_.

"Oh god, Rockruff!" shouted Evelyn. She was leaning against a tree for support, her Eevee recalled to it's Pokéball. Rockruff slid violently to a halt, kicking up dirt and grass. The park was probably ruined by now.

Again, Rockruff slowly lifted itself back up.

 _Rockruff toughed it out._

Police Officer Braden grumbled again, annoyed, and watched Rockruff feebly stand there.

"Rockruff…" began Blake. Rockruff had no need to tough it out and keep going, especially for a new Trainer.

"Ugh, I'm getting tired of this, Patrat. Tackle, third time's the charm!"

"Rrrrr…"

Patrat rammed a third time into Rockruff, sending her flying towards a tree. She crashed against the trunk, sliding to the ground.

"Rockruff, no!" shouted Blake.

"Hehehe, HAHAHA!" laughed Officer Braden. "What did I tell you? You never stood a-."

 _Rockruff toughed it out._

Blake cracked; he couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop Rockruff! You don't have to do this! Just stay down!"

"R-R…uffrockruff!" Rockruff stood up once more, her legs shaking furiously. She must be expending all her energy to keep this up. Blake felt her feelings rip down his body like a tidal wave, the determination and grit filling him to the brim.

"Rock…ruff…" Rockruff began to stumble once again, but it was even more uncoordinated than the last.

Officer Braden, distracted by the feat, grabbed his head and grunted.

"AGH! Enough. This time there's no way. Patrat, one last Tackle, and put EVERYTHING you have into it!"

Patrat began to back up, assembling a running stance. Blake stood hopelessly to the side, knowing there was nothing he could do right now if he wanted to escape.

He turned to Evelyn, who looked at him nervously from another tree. She didn't seem to have any ideas either.

Just as Patrat began it's sprint, Rockruff collapsed to the ground, struggling to get back up. This would be it…

Blake, his body running on adrenaline, quickly took action and ran in front of Rockruff.

"NOT THIS TIME!" he shouted, suddenly jumping in front of Rockruff. Patrat slammed into Blake's stomach, pushing him back a few inches. He groaned in pain and stepped back; those moves really _did_ hurt.

"Rock…ruff?" Rockruff looked up weakly, Blake standing above.

"BLAKE, GET OUT OF THERE!" screamed Evelyn. She tried to move from the tree, but her leg buckled and she fell to the ground.

Officer Braden chuckled maniacally and shrugged while Patrat looked up at him, confused.

"Wow, how noble of you, jumping in to save your Pokémon," he mocked. "Your passion is strong, I give you that, but it will be your downfall."

He swung his arm dramatically.

"I warned you. You didn't listen. Now you're going to get what you asked for. PATRAT! FOCUS YOUR ATTACK ON THE BOY INSTEAD!"

"PaaaaaTRAAAAT!" Patrat ran itself into Blake a second time.

"Oof!" Blake held his position, refusing to give in. "Heh, you gotta try harder than that!"

Patrat reeled back and bit Blake in the leg, making him flinch, but he still didn't move.

"That…was nothing." Blake grimaced as Patrat rammed into him again, and again, and again…

"Hm…" Officer Braden's expression began to fade away until it showed his discontent. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Enough." Officer Braden called back Patrat, Blake sinking to his knees, his entire body in pain (again). He collapsed to the ground, a weak Rockruff lying on the ground behind him. Officer Braden slowly paced towards Blake, until he stopped just in front of his head.

"Hey!" shouted Evelyn. "Don't hurt him or I'll-."

Officer Braden held up his hand.

"I have no intention to injure this boy further, so put your childish feelings to the side."

Evelyn grit her teeth angrily.

"That's n-not why-."

Blake stirred frailly on the ground as Officer Braden squatted to face him.

"You…you are brave. You have heart. But you're naïve. Do you _really_ think that Rockruff stood to keep fighting for you? No. It didn't. It stood on _personal pride_. I was wondering how you pulled it off, and now I know. Your bond is shallow at most; the only reason you two managed to stay somewhat in sync is because you are both equally reckless and cocky."

"B-But Blake rescued his Rockruff on the side of the road and is helping to nurse it back to health!" shouted Evelyn.

Officer Braden shrugged.

"So what? That doesn't mean they're best friends. I assure you that Rockruff only obeys him because it currently relies on Blake to survive."

"And what makes you an expert on Pokémon?" protested Evelyn. Officer Braden continued talking, ignoring her outcry.

"Luckily for you, I'm not completely heartless, so you get to keep the Eevee and your Pokémon. Honestly though, you put up a good fight for all its worth." Braden turned away. "I do sincerely hope we meet again."

Evelyn got up from the tree and began to limp towards Braden, who was walking away.

"HEY! I'm not done with you-."

"Farewell." Braden messed with some device and…disappeared.

"Wow this day is…just going great," stammered Blake, who lifted himself from the ground. His body felt slightly better.

"Ugh, it feels like I got punched several times in the stomach…"

"You basically did Blake."

Blake and Evelyn both glanced towards Rockruff.

"I don't know. Is he right about Rockruff? Return!" Blake recalled Rockruff to it's Pokéball.

"I got crushed," he continued. "I'm hopeless, huh?"

"Ehhh, it could be much worse. You could have died."

"Touché." He glanced down at Evelyn's shin. The bleeding had slowed.

"You gonna be okay? With your leg?"

"I think so…"

Eevee's Pokéball suddenly popped out of Evelyn's pocket, releasing the Pokémon.

"Eevee!"

"Hm?" inquired Evelyn. "What is it?"

"Eevee Eevee!" Eevee scratched at Blake's pocket.

"What? Okay…" Blake pulled out the Pokéball and called out Rockruff, who was still tired and unable to move. Eevee pranced over to the downed Rockruff and sat down.

"EEVEE!"

After a few seconds, both Evelyn and Blake gave each other confused glances, but Blake decided not to intervene.

However, to the surprise of both kids, sparkles descended onto Rockruff and healed some of it's wounds. Rockruff got up, a bit relieved, and nodded to Eevee as if to say thank you.

"How…interesting…" Blake recalled Rockruff as Eevee did the same thing to Evelyn's leg.

"Aww, thank you Eevee!" Evelyn gave the Eevee a little smile.

"Eevee!" Eevee poked it's Pokéball and recalled itself.

"The Pokémon look out for each other, huh?" asked Evelyn.

Blake, now questioning his sanity, scratched his head and checked his phone; it was only one o'clock. That meant within twenty-four hours, he became a Pokémon Trainer, made his best friend swear not to tell, get in and lose his first Pokémon battle, and almost died.

"I guess…at least it couldn't get much worse," he commented, watching Evelyn unroll the now unneeded bandage from her shin.

"I'd watch what you're saying Blake," Evelyn muttered, "after what I've seen anything is possible- oh?" Evelyn pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the notifications. Her face suddenly froze and her phone slid out from her hand.

"Uh…Earth to Evelyn? You there?" Blake waved his hand in front of Evelyn's face.

" _Ugh, girls sometimes…so odd."_

Evelyn snapped out of her daze and looked at Blake.

"My dad said some drama went down at the restaurant today, so he's ordering everyone to go on a two-week retreat to help re-bond," she explained. "Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to go…"

"Aw man, that sucks," Blake replied. "You sure you can't go?"

"Yeah, he wrote it out here, see?" She showed him the text.

"That means I'm alone for at least the next couple weeks!" She started jumping up and down.

"Wait…that means I'm alone for the next couple weeks." She stopped and covered her face with her hands. "I can't take care of myself! I can barely _survive_ without my dad at home!"

"Uh…you can stay at my place while he's gone." Blake instantly shut his mouth after he spoke the sentence. He didn't even have the time to stop himself from saying that.

Evelyn looked up at Blake and smiled.

"I can?"

"Um yeah, I'm sure it'll be alright. Besides, we have the…you know…other issue to work on too. I'm sure my mom will be okay with it anyways-"

"THANK YOU BLAKE!" Evelyn jumped up and gave Blake a hug, squeezing him so tight that it nearly mimicked the pain of Patrat's Tackle.

"Y-You're…welcome…" She didn't let go.

"I can't…breathe…"

"Oh, sorry! Heehee!" Evelyn let go and backed off as Blake gasped for the precious park air. "We can bike back to your place and then we can tell your mom about your little idea."

"And you'll have her drive you back to your place to get your stuff…"

"While you watch and take care of our Pokémon!"

Blake was taken aback. Evelyn wanted to him take care of her brand new Eevee? Was the WORLD turned upside down?

"Um…excuse me? You do know it's your Eevee right? You sure you want me handling it? I might have enough on my hands with Rockruff."

Evelyn gave Blake the pouty face and put her hands on her hips.

"Blaaaaaake you know I don't know anymore about Pokémon than you do, and you know almost nothing!"

"Heeeey-."

"Besides, I don't think keeping those Pokémon cooped up in the Pokéballs all day is going to help, huh?"

"True, true…fine."

"Yaaaay thank you!" Evelyn started jumping up and down, again, like always. It was almost like she had completely forgotten about getting bit in the ankle and catching a Pokémon less than an hour ago, because she managed to sprint all the way back to her bike before Blake moved a muscle.

"Last one back is a rotten Exeggcute!"

"Haha, coming up with the Pokémon puns now, huh?" commented Blake as he rushed to catch up.

"I will embrace the nerd in me proudly!"

"THAT'S MY JOB!"

"Not anymore!"

The two soared on their bikes down the streets as the afternoon sun shined overhead. Their laughing and giggling helped Blake forget about all the troubles and stresses of being a Pokémon Trainer in a non-Pokémon world – Evelyn had that aura about her that made people forget about the future and enjoy the present.

Blake shook his head and went back to having fun. He was too young to be having these thoughts.

They screeched to a halt as their bike ride ended. Blake opened the garage door and docked his bike on the bike rack hanging on the wall. As always, his Mom's SUV was in one spot and…his dad's spot was still empty, collecting dust.

"C'mon Sakura, let's move it!"

"Geez, okay Evelyn!" Evelyn pushed Blake up the garage stairs and into the laundry room, where his mom had just put in a new load of clothes.

"Blake honey, is that you?" his mom's voice echoed from around the corner.

"Yeah Mom, I'm home, and Evelyn's with me."

"Oh, okay." They slipped off their shoes and walked into the kitchen, where Blake's mom was _still_ on her laptop, working.

"Mom, do you ever move from there?"

"Contrary to what you may think Blake, yes."

"Uh huh, sure you do."

Evelyn shoved by Blake and walked up to his mom.

"Hey Mrs. Sakura, can I ask for a favor?"

Blake and Evelyn laid out the details of the arrangement to his mom, who kept nodding most of the talk.

"Hm…and you're _sure_ your dad would be okay with you staying with us for two weeks?"

"Hey, it's better than nothing!"

Blake's mom thought for a second.

"Sure, I'm okay with it. You're basically family anyways, and you two need to spend more time together. I don't want to see you two grow apart during middle school."

"Thanks Mrs. Sakura! How can I repay you for this?"

"No need Evelyn."

"Um…Mom, I just realized…where is she going to sleep?"

Evelyn turned and stared at Blake as if to say _"I am NOT sleeping in your bed."_ At least they were on the same page in that book.

"She can use Kenzie's room. It's basically a guest room."

"Oh yeah, that's right…" Blake had completely forgotten about his twin sister, Mackenzie. When his dad got his job across the country, he and his mom had argued for at least ten hours straight over him and his sister, trying to figure out who would go where. In the end, it was decided that Kenzie would go with Dad and he would stay with Mom, so they could both still be parents to their kids while they were apart. If Blake was being honest, though, Evelyn was more of a sister to him than his _actual_ sister.

"Mrs. Sakura, I don't have my stuff. Mind if you drive me over to my place?" Blake was just staring off into space, but he saw Evelyn subtly offer Blake her Pokéball while his mom was distracted. He took Eevee's Pokéball and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Sure. You'll have to help me with directions though."

"No worries!" Evelyn led Blake's mom out of the kitchen and into the garage.

Blake let out a huge sigh of relief as he slumped against one of the kitchen chairs, and once again his thoughts drifted back to Rockruff. They had an adventure and a half just in the past couple hours; was this the true life of a Trainer?

Blake put both of the Pokéballs onto the kitchen table and put his blanket bag down next to them.

"Ugh, what am I gonna do?" He stared blankly at the two balls, his head rested against the table.

"Might as well." Blake grabbed the two Pokéballs and clicked the buttons, releasing their inhabitants.

"How'd you like your beauty sleep?"

"Ruffrockruff!" Rockruff did a frontflip and started wagging its tail. Blake wasn't so sure why Braden thought Rockruff and him had no bond at all; it seemed like there was some spark.

"Eeeeeveeeee." Evelyn's Eevee stretched itself out on the table and closed it's eyes, almost falling back asleep.

"Rrrrruff!" Rockruff swiped at Eevee's tail, making the Pokémon jump up in fright. The two both jumped off the table and started chasing each other around the house.

"Heh, cool." Blake flipped out his phone and dialed in his sister's number; might as well make a call. Maybe life is more interesting on her end.

The phone rung for about ten seconds before Kenzie answered on the other side. Her face popped up on the screen.

"Hey brooooooo, what's up?"

"Please don't do that, you know it annoys me."

"Why do you think I do it?"

"Ugh…"

Kenzie burst into laughter on the other side of the phone. If you looked at him and his sister _before_ they moved, you couldn't tell them apart besides the hair and…a lot of things. After three years apart, they looked completely different. Her skin tone was significantly more tan than that of his, she was taller than he was, and she was a lot more personable than Blake could ever hope to be.

"Long time no see, what gives?"

Blake furrowed his eyebrows.

"Um…what do you mean?"

"Why'd you shoot me a call? You don't normally call…"

"No reason, just wanted to see how my favorite sister is doing."

"I'm your _only_ sister Blake."

"Yeah, so it also makes you the worst."

"Ha, funny. You're the worst bro too."

"Inherently."

Fortunately, Blake and Kenzie still thought the same way, so that was a plus for him.

"C'mon Blake, I know you don't do anything new unless something BIG happened." She looked off-screen both ways before getting closer to the phone camera.

"Did you hook up with Evelyn yet?" she whispered. Blake's face turned bright red and he shook his head.

"NO! Why would you think that?"

"Haha, I was just messing with you."

"Screw you."

They both laughed for a bit. Blake heard some thumps from upstairs, but he decided it was just the Pokémon having fun and turned back to the phone.

"But really sis, some weird things have been happening lately."

Kenzie groaned and looked above her.

"Geez, I wish something interesting would happen here. It's pretty boring."

"I'm _sure_ that your idea of boring is more interesting than my exciting, Kenzie."

"Ten bucks says you're wrong."

"I'm out of money though…"

"Welp, too bad!"

Kenzie turned to talk to someone not in the camera frame then turned back to the phone.

"So…how's Dad?"

"You know, same old same old…he's at work more often than normal though, that's for sure."

"Huh, I wonder why…" Blake's voice trailed off.

"Oh! That's right! What's going on there with those strange, aggressive animals back at home?"

"Wait…where'd you hear about that?"

"It made national news, Blake. Reports of 'Pokémon' would make for pretty interesting news, don'tcha think?"

"Hey, you're the one interested in becoming a journalist, not me."

Kenzie crossed her arms and stared at the camera.

"HEY, at least I have a goal."

"What?! That's uncalled for. I have all of middle school AND high school to come up with a goal."

Blake jumped from his seat when he heard a crash come from his mom's bedroom.

"Hey Blake, what was that?"

"Ummm…" Blake looked around him nervously.

"Mom didn't let you get any pets, did she? Because if she did, I'm not gonna stop nagging her about getting that cat I really wanted!"

"Oh no, of course not," said Blake. His eyes darted all over the place.

"Hey bro, you seem distracted, something up?"

An even louder crash resonated from the second floor.

"Yeah, hold up. I'll be right back."

"Psch, don't get yourself killed."

"I'll try."

Blake hung up the video chat with Kenzie and snagged the balls and bag as he ran upstairs. Sure enough, when he entered his mom's room and turned on the lights, the entire place was a mess.

"Oh god, you have to be kidding me!"

Rockruff and Eevee were jumping all around the room, knocking over lamps, tables, pillows, chairs, and even managed to get the TV on the floor without breaking it. The two were still chasing each other, neither showing any sign of stopping.

"Hey, can you two calm down?"

They didn't listen.

"Hello?! Trainer right here?!"

Still no reaction.

"Ugh…WHO'S HUNGRY?!"

"Roff?"  
"Vee?"

"Ha, jackpot." Blake picked up the two Pokémon and walked back downstairs.

"You two are _never_ leaving my sight again."

"Roff rock…"

"No, you can't have more popcorn!"

"ROFFORFFOROFORFOF!" Rockroff wriggled her way out from under Blake's arm and sprinted down the stairs.

"HEY, COME BACK ROCKRUFF!" Blake set Eevee down on the ground and ran to chase Rockruff to the pantry, where she was already into one of the popcorn bags.

"Awwww man, that was going to be mine!"

"Roff…*munch*…rockrofff…" Rockruff chomped at the popcorn like nothing else mattered in the world. And by nothing else mattered, it meant making a huge mess.

Blake sighed and squatted down in front of her.

"We…need to talk."

"Roff?" She had one of the popcorn bags in her mouth, the popcorn spilling out of the opening.

"If I'm going to be your Trainer, and you're going to stay here, we need to get to know each other better."

"Ruffrockruff?" Rockruff tilted her head and dropped the bag on the floor.

"I think I should give you a nickname. How does that sound?"

"Ruff ruff!" Rockruff jumped up and wagged her tail vigorously.

"You like that idea, girl?"

"Ruff ruff!"

"Hmm…" Blake racked his brain for any ideas. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to come up with one…

"Wait, I have an idea. Follow me!" Blake feinted walking out of the room so Rockruff would leave, then proceeded to hastily clean up the popcorn mess and put the remaining bags on the top shelf where Rockruff couldn't reach them.

Blake snagged his phone from the kitchen table and called his sister back. Looks like someone else would be in on the little secret.

"UGH, took you long enough Blaaaaake."

"I told you sis, STOP DOING THAT!"

"It'll only make me do it more."

Blake was silent.

"Okay," he said, "seriously. I need to tell you something."

"Yeah, go ah-."

"And you can't tell ANYBODY about it, not even Mom or Dad."

"I don't like where you're going with this." Kenzie suddenly gasped. "OMG! Does this have to do with Evelyn?!"

Blake facepalmed.

"NO, for the one billionth time, NO!"

"Sorry, sorry, continue."

Blake took a deep breath and steadied himself.

"Okay, so…about those animal incidents…I got myself involved in them myself."

Kenzie snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Suuuuure you did. Where's the proof?"

"Is there anyone else in the room with you?"

"No, why?"

"Good." Blake brought the camera and pointed it at Rockruff. "Prepare to be amazed!"

He touched the camera toggle and watched Kenzie's eyes widen as she saw Rockruff wagging her tail and looking at Blake.

"OH. MY. GOD. THAT DOG IS JUST ADORBS!"

"Geez Kenzie, you're sounding more like a middle schooler than an elementary schooler right now."

"Wait…what does this have to do with the animals?"

"Remember when I showed you Pokémon Sun last time you came over?"

"Yeah, really weird Christmas. Why?"

"You recall the small rock dog I talked about, right?"

"Oh yeah, that thing looked so cute-."

Blake smirked as he watched his sister slowly connect the dots.

"WAIT, THAT THING LOOKS THE SAME!"

"Yup."

"IS THAT A POKÉMON?"

"Yep."

"You nerd."

"Wow, that was…an unexpected reaction. Actually, why would I expect anything else…"

"That thing is…not a robot?"

"Nope, actually. I'm not pulling leg this time."

"Wow…this is…actually huge."

"No kidding."

"Why aren't you telling anyone?"

Blake sighed and gave her the extremely long explanation of why he can't reveal the secret of Pokémon to the others.

"The only other person who knows is Evelyn. You saw the news articles yourself. Imagine what would happen to these creatures if the wrong people found them."

"Man, huge bummer. Honestly. I wish I was there, then maybe I could have my own! I wonder what laboratory made these things…"

"I thought you hated Pokémon."

"Only because I thought it was a useless game, but it's real now. Apparently."

"Huh. Evelyn said the same thing."

Kenzie suddenly frowned at the camera.

"Please don't tell me Evelyn has one."

Blake re-angled the camera to point it at Eevee.

"SO UNFAIR! Hmph!"

"Ugh…I wasn't here to brag about it. I'm only telling you because you're my sister and I need some advice in regards to this."

Kenzie suddenly perked up and got close to the camera.

"Hm?"

"I want to come up with a nickname for Rockruff, but I don't have any ideas."

"It's _your_ Pokéman, Blake."

"It's pronounced Poke-e-mon. Not Poke-e-man."

"Sorry, your Pokémon." Kenzie rolled her eyes. "Still, why couldn't you?"

"Trust me, I tried. It's not my fault you took all the creativity."

"Ha. You're joking. There has to be at least _some_ ounce of creativeness in your mind."

"Nooope."

"Geez…I guess I can give you some slack on this one. You never were the creative type anyways."

" _Wow._ Wonder how you got that."

Kenzie ignored his sarcastic comment.

"Is Rockruff a boy or a girl?"

"Girl."

"Hm…okay…" Kenzie thought for a moment.

"Ooh, how about Mackenzie?"

Blake gave her the dead stare.

"Ha, just kidding. How about Rachel?"

Blake turned towards Rockruff, who didn't react at all. He was _pretty_ sure Rockruff could hear the phone…

"Nah," he said, "try something else."

"How about Lucky?"

"Nah. Too generic anyways."

"Dinnerbone?"

"Too blocky."

"Popcorn?"

Rockruff started running and circles with her tongue stuck out.

"She seems to like it!" exclaimed Kenzie.

"Yeah, only because Rockruff _really_ likes to eat popcorn. I just had to stop her from raiding the pantry. Again."

"Well, that one's off the list." Kenzie scratched a line across an imaginary piece of paper and continued to think.

"Hmm…how about…no, that won't do…"

Her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Ooh, how about Lyra?"

"Roff?" Rockruff tilted her head, interested.

"Hm…I think it sounds good," said Blake.

He turned to Rockruff.

"What do you think?"

"Ruff ruff, ruffrockruff!" She wagged her tail happily.

"Do you like Lyra?"

"Ruff ruff!" Lyra jumped onto Blake's lap.

"AWWWWW, SO CUUUUTE!" shouted Kenzie from the phone.

"Geez, you're turning into Evelyn. Oh, and by the way, she's staying here at Mom's while her dad is out of town on some sort of 'team-bonding activity.' We told her she could stay in your room."

"Ugh, I don't like it when other people stay in my bed…even though I rarely use it. Hehe."

Kenzie looked slyly at the camera.

"But if it's Evelyn…then maybe if you-."

"No. Don't say it."

"Tell."

"Don't."

"Her."

"No."

"YOU."

"NO."

"LIKE HER!"

"…you're a monster, Kenzie."

"Haha, you should'a seen your face. Don't worry, there's no payment required." Kenzie suddenly started gesturing her hands around, pretending to be a businesswoman.

"Unless you stay extra nights, in which case you'll have to pay for the extra room fee, your bribe, and-."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," laughed Blake. "See ya later sis."

"Keep me up to date on your secret and your love life."

"Suck my butt, Kenzie."

"Love ya' idiot."

The video chat disappeared and Blake put Lyra down to turn off the phone. He hadn't had a conversation with her of that caliber or quality in a long time. He felt proud of himself; he was extending his boundaries and going past his normal, anti-social self. How awesome.

 _*PING!*_

Blake turned his head to look at his phone; a new text message from Evelyn. He opened it up and read it.

"Just finished getting my stuff," he read, "I'll be back in…FIVE MINUTES?! OH GOD!" Blake quickly stuffed his phone into his pant pocket and grabbed both Lyra and Eevee.

"I need your help cleaning your mess upstairs, otherwise I'm in trouble."

"Ruff roff…"

"Popcorn if you help."

"RUFFRUFURUFURUF-."

"Okay, square deal."

Blake sprinted into his mom's bedroom and assessed the damage. Nothing seemed to be broken, which was good, but nothing seemed to be left untouched. How did a pillow get on top of the bookshelf?! Was that even possible for these little guys?!

"Put the pillows back on the bed and try and restack all the toppled piles of magazines. I'll handle the big stuff."

"Ruff ruff!"  
"Vee eevee!"

Blake got right to work, first putting the TV back on it's table and making his mom's bed with the pillows and sheets that got scattered across the room. Lyra and Eevee got to work reorganizing his mom's magazines, both the fashion and veterinarian ones that she read. He dashed left and right, sweating profusely as he struggled to pick up all the spilled writing utensils and phone chargers that the Pokémon had knocked over.

After several minutes of work, he fluffed the last pillow just when he heard the garage door open.

"Blaaaaake, we're baaaaack!" shouted Evelyn.

Blake quickly recalled Eevee and hid the Pokéballs in his pockets just as Evelyn ran up the stairs to find him.

"Hey Blake, where ar- oh, there you are!"

Blake was holding a very confused Lyra in his arms.

"Roff?"

"Shhh," he whispered, "we don't want our cover blown."

"Blake?" his mom asked, following Evelyn up the stairs, "Why are you in my room?"

"Well, uh…Lyra wanted to come play up here, so I chased her upstairs." Blake tried to avoid eye contact with his mom.

"Awwww you named her? So cuuuuuuute!" Evelyn took Lyra from Blake.

"Is your name Lyra?"

"Ruff!"

"Are you adorable?" whispered Evelyn.

"Roffrock, ruff!"

"OHMYGOD I LOVE YOU!" She gave Lyra a big squeeze.

"Rock…ruff…"

"Um, Evelyn…I think you're squeezing her to death."

"Oops! I didn't notice." Evelyn put Lyra back on Blake's lap.

"Aw Blake, it looks like you're bonding with the puppy," laughed his mom. "Where'd you come up with the name? I thought you were bad with names."

"I am. I had to call Kenzie for one."

"Huh…I thought you never called your sister."

"There's a first for everything, Mom."

"You could have called _me_ for name advice, Blake." Evelyn puffed out her chest and pouted.

"I needed an unbiased source."

"Ugh. You and your organized self."

"Me? Organized? You're joking."

Blake checked his phone for the time, but it was only four o'clock? It felt like this day had gone on for _ages_.

"Anything else you wanna do today?" asked Evelyn, smiling brightly. Blake tried to look away; he was a sucker for that face.

"I was thinking of calling it a day. I'm pooped."

"Same, honestly." Evelyn looked around the hallway. "Where's Kenzie's room?"

"Across the hall from Blake's."

"Thanks Mrs. Sakura!" Evelyn dragged her suitcase and bags and walked right into Kenzie's vacant bedroom.

"I'm gonna go take a shower real quick. Can you watch Lyra for me for a bit?"

"Of course honey."

Blake left Lyra with his mom and stumbled over to his room, where he snatched his pajamas off the floor. He proceeded to stumble towards the bathroom, where he entered and locked the door.

"Phew, some alone time I guess."

As Blake took his shower, all the deep thoughts returned. About Braden…was he really right? Was Lyra just deceiving him? How would he keep this a secret? Would there be more Pokémon?

Blake dried himself off and changed into his pajamas. As he opened the door, he saw Evelyn rushing towards him carrying clothes, toiletries, and other miscellaneous supplies.

"Are you done in there?" she asked frantically. Blake was too busy looking at all the items she was carrying.

"Um…yeah…why so much?"

"Hmph! A girl has to do what she has to do to be clean."

"Okay sheesh. I don't think Kenzie ever went all out like that…"

"The last time you lived together you were seven."

"Actually she was here for a week last Christmas."

"Um…okay then." She walked inside and was about to close the door when she suddenly stopped.

"Hey, no peeking, okay?"

"Why the heck would I peek Ev?"

"Good." Evelyn shut the door, leaving Blake alone and awkward. At least he was used to this feeling, unlike everything else that happened today.

Blake quickly put Eevee's Pokéball on Kenzie's desk before returning to his room with Lyra.

"Hey girl, are you feeling better?"

"Ruff ruff?" She tilted her head.

"Maybe you should try this." Blake dug through the blanket bag and took out one of the blue berries, which Lyra eyed with determination.

"Hm, looks like an Oran Berry to me. Want it?"

"Ruff ruff! Rockruff!" She jumped up and down.

"Of course you do." Blake held out the berry, which Lyra took and chomped on multiple times.

"Delightful." Blake let himself fall down onto the mattress, shooting Lyra in the air. She landed on the fluffy sheets with a soft plop.

"What am I going to do Lyra?"

"Roff ruff?"

"I might be getting myself in a mess by getting into this…"

"Ruff ruff rockruff, roff."

Blake tried to think of what Lyra was trying to say.

"I know, I know."

"Roff?"

Lyra trotted over and nudged Blake's cheek.

"Hm?"

Lyra spun around a couple times before coming to a stop and lying down right on the spot. Blake reached his hand out and pet her.

"Geez…it's been a long journey for both of us huh?"

Blake stared at the ceiling.

"And it's just getting started."

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Credit goes to M3G4N5H058 for Rockruff's/Lyra's new name! I suppose if anyone wanted to come up with a nickname for Evelyn's Eevee, you're free to come up with ideas.**

 **If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to PM me or leave a review. If you liked what you read, feel free to follow or like the story for more on this story.**

 **Of course, I don't own Pokémon :P**

 **See ya guys next time!**

 **-Blox**


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